Houston city council notes, prepared by Emily J Hynds.

Agenda

1. A Public Hearing
2. Public Comment
3. Mayor’s Report
4. Consent Agenda (items that require a vote, like purchases, resolutions, ordinances, etc)
5. Council Member Pop-Off

A Public Hearing

Today’s public hearing dealt with changes to Chapter 42 and Chapter 26 of the Code of Ordinances, aiming to promote “neighborhood-focused homes.” This has been drawing some ire! Before the presentation, Mayor Turner prefaced with two clarifications: the Planning Department decided not to move forward with market-based parking or y-shaped driveways. He encouraged all speakers planning to remark against these two things to reconsider.

Margaret Wallace Brown, the director of the Planning Department, outlined the proposed changes to Chapters 42 and 26. They aim to promote “neighborhood-focused homes” and provide “a wider variety of homes to meet the needs of Houstonians.” These changes were developed with the Livable Places Action Committee to focus on affordability, walkability, and equity.

There are four main proposed changes:

• Make it easier to build accessory dwelling units, or ADU’s. Perhaps the return of the garage apartment is upon us.
• Make it easier to build and maintain triplexes and fourplexes.
• Encourage courtyard development, which means smaller units centered around a shared common green space.
• Incentivize rear and shared access parking and driveways for narrow lot development (read: townhomes). Restrict front-access driveway widths, which will be safer for pedestrians, allow for more green space along the street, and “provide more public access to the public curb.” “Public Access for the Public Curb” is a good slogan, somebody use this for something!

The fourth bullet point is the one that seems to be the sticking point. Conjure in your mind, if you will, a street lined with townhomes. The townhomes have large double garages, windowless fronts, and the front door is hidden away to the side, very likely behind a gate. The driveways are quite wide and often abut the neighboring townhome’s driveway. Director Wallace Brown commented on the lack of sidewalk space, green area, drainage issues, space for trees, as well as the safety problem for pedestrians. The proposed code offers incentives for alleyway and side access parking and garages, encourages forward facing front doors and windows, and encourages driveway options that are smaller, make room for more sidewalks and greenery, and are safer for pedestrians.

There were so many speakers signed up that the administration limited each one to just one minute. I listened to ten before I decided to log off and return later for the rest of the meeting. The ten speakers that I saw were all involved in the real estate business as agents, developers, or property owners. They all opposed the changes, many because it would hurt their profit margin.

Today’s public hearing was just that, a hearing, and nothing got voted on.

The Mayor’s Report

• Wednesday was the first day of summer. LOL.
• The Bethune Empowerment Center has a ribbon cutting on Saturday, June 24 at 10am.
• The Pride Parade is this Saturday, June 24. It starts at 7pm at City Hall.

The Capital Improvement Plan

tem 4 approved the Fiscal Year 2024-2028 $11.5B Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), after a few amendments proposed by Council Members. This was similar to the budget process but nowhere near as long (phew). The CIP is a budget within a budget that only deals with major infrastructure projects. For reference, the CIP budget passed last year was $10.5B.

Many Council Members proposed symbolic amendments. They used this opportunity to highlight projects they would like to see get funding, knowing that the funding is not available. Mayor Turner did not argue with the need, lamented the lack of funding, and said the city is trying to outsource funding with state and federal partners. Most CMs withdrew their amendments.

Here are the amendments that passed:

Council Member Huffman / District G

• 12.03 amended language that allows the police department to look for a substation location in District G, which does not currently have a substation.

Council Member Cisneros / District H

• 13.01 amended language so that if funding for the purchase of property for flood detention in the Eastex-Jensen area is not found elsewhere, CM Cisneros agrees to reallocate funding from a different CIP project if needed.

The FY 24/28 CIP budget passed as amended. In conclusion, Mayor Turner reiterated his administrations commitment to finding funding elsewhere for projects that could not be included, and that the city has set aside money to be used for matching fund requirements when necessary.

Agenda Items, Selected Works

• Item 5 approved $92K for emergency medical supplies for the fire department.
• Item 8 approved $40K for the special paper the Health Department uses for birth and death certificates. You *have* to use a very specific kind of paper for these records and there is only *one* authorized vendor in the State of Texas, VeriTrace Inc.
• HPD spending:
  • Item 9 approved $350K for one “BearCat Armored Tactical Vehicle.” The BearCat is a favorite for SWAT operations and features “blast-resistant floors, gunports, roof hatches/turret … lights/sirens/battering ram/winches/thermal cameras and spot lights.”
  • Item 10 approved $144K for bullet-resistant shields.
  • Item 11 approved $65K for rifle scopes and magnifiers.
• Item 12 approved $28K for our old friend, tapping saddles. Just in time for Pride, baybeee.
• Item 22 approved the creation of the Houston Opioid Abatement Fund. It’s empty now, but when the State receives forthcoming money from opioid abatement settlements, some of that money will be sent to Houston (and other cities and counties), so now we have somewhere to put it.
• Item 23 approved a $307K grant to The Women’s Home for supportive services to people and families living with HIV / AIDS.
• Item 34 approved an $886K grant to Brentwood Community Foundation for housing for people and families living with HIV / AIDS.
• Item 38 approved $750K in ARPA funding for The Alliance for Multicultural Community Services to implement a preventive program addressing domestic violence in vulnerable populations, especially men and boys. The program will include “neighborhood canvassing and outreach, intervention sessions for men and boys teaching them healthy alternative behaviors, and trauma-informed counseling and psychiatric services addressing mental health. The program is an innovative step toward addressing violence before it happens in communities of color.”
• Item 63 authorized Houston to participate in a coalition of cities organizing to review and perhaps protest rate increases from SiEnergy, which provides gas service to ~650 Houston customers in District D. Even the city knows that organizing a group of interested parties to fight for their collective rights is a powerful bargaining tool.

Who took these notes? And what resources did they use?

My name is Emily Hynds and I am a writer, producer of the monthly storytelling series Grown-up Storytime, and lifelong Houstonian. I am not a journalist or government official. I am a local government enthusiast who believes meaningful change starts at home. These notes are presented from my point of view and with my framing, and are not comprehensive. Your notes will certainly be different, and I would love to read them if you attend.

While compiling these notes I used the following sources:
https://houston.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/

You can find your City Council Member and their contact info at: http://www.houstontx.gov/council/whoismycm.html

Thank you to Houston In Action and ACLU TX for supporting these notes.
My Patreon is patreon.com/emilytakesnotes.